State Dems slap Senate prez with ‘hall of fame’ honors

Florida Democrats said Thursday they’ve added a new honoree to their ‘Rickpublican’ hall of fame — Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

The Melbourne Republican gets the nod for recently acknowledging in a deposition that he tried to mislead a reporter months back when he was asked whether he agreed to give former Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer a lucrative severance package for leaving the party post. The deal fell apart, and Greer’s facing felony charges for allegedly directing thousands of dollars in party funds to an account he controlled.

“Backroom dealings and outright lies are a go-to in the Florida GOP playbook. While Haridopolos might not be able to remember much, he clearly hasn’t forgotten how to avoid the truth,” said Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux.

In the deposition taken by Greer lawyers last month, Haridopolos said he was ”not telling the whole story” when he described what he knew of the severance.

Haridopolos is among the first to be enshrined in the ‘hall.’ But with eyes on next year’s election season, state Democrats unveiled the website www.rickpublicans.com in October to taunt state Republicans by tying them to Florida Gov. Rick Scott, whose poll numbers have languished most of this year.